Knitting project to aid
kids is more than sew-sew deal

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

The group of high school students were working quickly — their nimble fingers beginning to get used to the occasional pin prick.
It was 2:45 p.m., and while most of the student body at Cardinal Dougherty High School on this Monday afternoon had left for the day, these dedicated teenagers stuck around, doing what they’ve learned to do best since the beginning of the school year.
Led by educator Helene Hoffsommer, a group of about 12 Dougherty students have been sewing pillowcases to benefit ConKerr Cancer, a foundation that strives to help sick children throughout the Philadelphia area and beyond by providing them with something to take their minds off their illnesses.
"They (children) go to the hospital and get something bright and colorful and cheerful," Hoffsommer said during a sewing session April 7. "It’s part of their journey through their treatment."
Hoffsommer learned about ConKerr Cancer while visiting a neighborhood fabric store; she spotted a brochure advertising the organization.
She soon came up with the idea of forming a ConKerr Cancer group at her high school, where she is a theology teacher. Administrators seemed to take to the idea and allowed Hoffsommer and her students to use a classroom after school.
"They’ve been working their little hearts out," Hoffsommer said of the students, who agreed to volunteer their services.
One of those students is Ashley Davis-Reed, a 16-year-old from Olney.
"I wanted to learn how to sew, and they said they would teach me," Davis-Reed said of what made her decide to join the group.
But Davis-Reed, whose grandfather died of cancer, said she soon found a more special meaning when it came to participating in the group — namely, that her labor would benefit a good cause.
"The pillowcases are cute, so it can make them feel better," she said of the ill children who will receive them.
Defying the stereotype that sewing is primarily a female pastime, juniors Eric Sulit, 16, of the Northeast, and Kenny Hoang, a 17-year-old Olney resident, teamed with sophomore Brian Brion, 15, of Juniata, to try their hands at the art of pillowcase-making.
"It’s for a good cause," Hoang said.
"Helping kids makes me feel good," added Brion.
Asked if they were intimidated working alongside mostly girls, the young men bristled at the suggestion. On the contrary, they joked that the heavy female presence was a main reason they decided to join the group.
"That’s kind of a bonus," Sulit said with a smile.
As for the art of sewing, the three agreed that it’s something that becomes easier with practice.
"I never thought of sewing anything in my life," Brion said, adding that he did experience a sense of accomplishment after learning how to thread a needle.
In the beginning, Hoffsommer said, students were sewing pillowcases by hand, since there were no sewing machines at their disposal. About 11 were done in that manner.
Then came the bake sale that enabled the group to raise enough funds to purchase a couple of sewing machines on eBay. An additional two or three were loaned to the students by Cardinal Dougherty’s theater department. This allowed them to craft even more pillowcases than initially imagined. Hoffsommer originally anticipated that 20 would be made; the students are now closer to 50.
"The pillowcases have gone beyond my wildest dreams already," she said. "It’s been a hoot and a half."
Hoffsommer said she’s not sure where these specific pillowcases will end up. She will simply drop off the donated items at the Delaware County fabric store near her house where she first learned about the foundation, and it will be up to organizers to decide where the pillowcases will be delivered.
According to information from the foundation’s Web site, ConKerr Cancer was started by Delaware County resident Cindy Kerr, who began making pillowcases for her son Ryan while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Kerr then took it upon herself to make pillowcases for other children with cancer, a mission that has since been expanded to children with a variety of illnesses.
A ConKerr Cancer informational brochure states that the organization has donated more than 13,000 pillowcases to children staying at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Penn State Children’s Hospital, Goryeb Children’s Hospital, Alfred I. duPont Hospital, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald Camp. ••
To learn more about ConKerr Cancer, visit www.ConKerrCancer.org or send e-mail to ConKerrCancer@aol.com
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com